Puro Sound Labs BT-5200 Bluetooth Wireless Headphones Review
July 6, 2016 § 1 Comment
“Try the beautiful flutes and bells at the opening of Reiner’s Mahler Symphony No. 4 on his famous RCA/Chicago Symphony. The playing is gorgeous but the orchestration and dynamic really highlights the coherence and timbral qualities the Puro brings. I’ve experienced this recording on what was probably the best sound I’ve heard from headphones — a MrSpeakers Alpha Prime headphone amplified by Cavalli. What a magical combination. The Puros can’t compete with that aural alchemy, but they did give musicality in spades. ”
HIFIMAN HE-400S PLANAR MAGNETIC HEADPHONES REVIEW
July 6, 2016 Comments Off on HIFIMAN HE-400S PLANAR MAGNETIC HEADPHONES REVIEW
” My final listening session came with with the most expected pairing, the HE400S and my iPhone 6S+. Leading the playlist was ‘A Change is Gonna Come’ from Seal’s album 7 [iTunes AIFF 16/44.1 Warner Bros. 2008]. Having just heard the HE400S paired with top level high-end gear, it was interesting to listen to this more utilitarian pairing. First, the quality of the HE400S revealed the shortcomings of the iPhone as a DAP. It was outclassed by the Questyle by a wide margin. The key is that the clarity and transparency of the HiFiMAN planar magnetic technology proved revealing to the lesser sonic quality of the Apple device as a source. Not that it was bad, but there were edges to the presentation that the other gear was able to remove or not introduce into the song. The soundstage in particular was more closed in and there was a brightness to the sonics that would indicate a lower quality DAC providing the conversion back to analogue.”
RSL Speakers Speedwoofer 10S Subwoofer Review
July 5, 2016 Comments Off on RSL Speakers Speedwoofer 10S Subwoofer Review
” In all my tests, as expected, placing the subs together produced the purest output. In fact, the pair of these damn near matched the audible and tactile impact of either the Hsu or the SVS when used alone. Were there limitations to what they could do? Sure—the Speedwoofer pair couldn’t go quite as deep as the big boys, especially when playing some organ samples that dip below 20 hertz. But, truthfully, it’s rare to find bass this deep, and given the difference in cost and size between the Speedwoofer and my reference subs, that’s a pretty reasonable trade-off.”
Magico S1 Mk.II Loudspeakers $7700 Review
July 4, 2016 Comments Off on Magico S1 Mk.II Loudspeakers $7700 Review
” Up to this point, Vivid Audio’s V1.5 floorstander ($7700/pair), with its 1” catenary aluminum tweeter and 6.2” aluminum midrange-woofer, had been the best two-way speaker I’d heard. Its avant-garde appearance leaves its visual attractiveness up for debate, but I thought it was a sonic masterpiece. I felt the Vivid’s defining characteristic was its speed. From the lower midrange up past 20kHz, the ported V1.5 sounded obscenely fast and light on its feet. As with Magico’s S1 Mk.II, high levels of transparency and resolution were present and accounted for, but the way the Vivid achieved them was a bit different from the Magico’s. Indeed, while neither speaker demonstrated even a hint of midrange coloration, I found the S1 to be the more honest speaker. The V1.5 sounded consistently fast, which I attribute to a dash of upper-midrange sparkle. While I don’t necessarily think that a bad thing, the S1 Mk.II just sounded “right.”
PS Audio BHK Signature Preamplifier Review
July 4, 2016 Comments Off on PS Audio BHK Signature Preamplifier Review
” No less for female voices. For example, I have never been a fan of blue grass music; but, my gosh, check out the 2000 album (CD rip) ‘Rising’ by Misty River, an all-female bluegrass quartet (including a mother and daughter) involving acoustic guitar, banjo, bass, fiddle, accordion, and more; but above all, absolutely lovely harmonizing vocals. And back to Vincent van Gogh, I suggest the track, ‘Paper Van Gogh’, from Shelby Lynne’s newest album, I Can’t Imagine (24/96). On the BHK, these voices (and all else) sounded heavenly.”
Nordost Valhalla 2 Reference cables
July 4, 2016 Comments Off on Nordost Valhalla 2 Reference cables
” My first impressions of the Valhalla 2 References, which remained unchanged throughout my listening, were of how smoothly the music flowed from note to note; of a very natural warmth and tonal richness of the sounds of instruments; and of how solid, dimensional, and tangible images and soundstages seemed. That’s where my analysis would begin.”
Audeze EL-8 Review
July 4, 2016 Comments Off on Audeze EL-8 Review
“So if you’ve been reading the Audiophiliac blog for a while, and waiting till something strikes your fancy, the latest EL-8 might be the one. After all, reading about great sound is all well and good, but in the end you have to hear it for yourself, with music you know on a deep level, and then digest what a great headphone like this can reveal. The music has been there all along, but you never heard it like this before”
Paradigm Prestige 2000SW Powered 15-Inch Subwoofer
July 3, 2016 Comments Off on Paradigm Prestige 2000SW Powered 15-Inch Subwoofer
” For those who like to maintain brand consistency, the Prestige 2000SW is a perfect, low-frequency mate to the various standalone speakers in the aforementioned Prestige line. The black piano lacquer finished version sent to me was gorgeous, and is sure to match whatever speakers you mate to it. Overall, Paradigm’s Prestige 2000SW is an awe-inducing, powered subwoofer that can handle the depths of most any movie sound effect, but it is also equally adept at transmitting the proper bass frequencies from your favorite hi-res music. From Rock to Classical to bombastic action flicks, I do not see how you could do any better in the bass department. An Everything Audio Network Stellar Sound Award for the Paradigm Prestige 2000SW.”
fo.Q Modrate HEM-25 Pure Note Insulators Review
July 3, 2016 Comments Off on fo.Q Modrate HEM-25 Pure Note Insulators Review
“The hi-rez files I have, such as Charles Mingus’s The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (24/96 FLAC, Impulse!), had a special kind of clarity that was tactile, organic, and startling, with more natural timing and a tonal richness without opacity. “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes,” from John Coltrane’s Coltrane’s Sound (24/96 FLAC, Atlantic/Rhino), was presented much more cleanly. Coltrane’s tenor sax was more penetrating; Elvin Jones’s drumming was snappier, his cymbal work more sparkling, his kick drum thunkier and deeper; and, with McCoy Tyner’s piano and Steve Davis’s bass, there were more textural contrasts among all four instruments. It all made for a far richer, more complex listening experience than I’d had before adding the fo.Q footers.”
DITA Review
July 3, 2016 Comments Off on DITA Review
“Operating under the philosophy that the cabinet has the greatest effect on overall sound quality, in order to control unwanted resonances (what they refer to as “box colorations”) the chassis is “meticulously milled and turned on modern multi-axis CNC machines from a solid block of 6061-T6 aluminum.” As to driver technology, they have chosen to use a single dynamic transducer, adopting the principle that the best way to maintain phase coherency and to eliminate crossover distortion is to use a single full range driver. Once again to quote DITA “To fully exploit our ultra rigid chassis, we needed to design a state-of-the-art driver that is ultra-lightweight, ultra-fast and rigid driver. The combination of both lightness and rigidity gives us a smooth and wide bandwidth response curve, along with stunningly quick impulse response.” But DITA doesn’t stop at the chassis and driver, they consider the cable to be a major factor in the sound and have taken great pains in the design and manufacture of their cables down to the use of Van den Hul silver solder and the non-magnetic carbon fiber TRS connector.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.